Chandra's Journal
April 7, 2006
Medically, there’s nothing to report really. No news is good news right now! His lab work looked good last week except they were concerned that he looks to be a little bit dehydrated (frequent diarrhea is a side effect of his meds – he’s going to love that I wrote that in ten years), so we’re increasing clear liquids. In the back of my mind his weight bugs me a little more than I let on probably. The worry doesn’t really surface until it’s time for a bath and I can see how skinny his legs and arms are. The liver has so many functions that affect the body as a whole; skeletal muscle is one of the biggies. With his old liver the skeletal muscle that he had was not getting enough nourishment to provide him any strength, and we all know if you don’t use it, you lose it; so there was probably a good deal of muscle atrophy going on. With our new healthy liver his skeletal muscle is getting a giant boost in metabolic support, thus the walking, climbing, etc. I guess maybe all I see is the muscle that’s still trying to catch up, no fat really. He still doesn’t seem to be gaining much weight (despite our way-too-frequent fast food meals lately). It’s a small thing to worry about in the grand scheme of things, I think. He’s really doing so good, that I hesitate to even point anything out at all.
Life at home is lots of fun right now. Canon and Creed are just getting to the point where they make each other laugh, and it is so precious. Little things set them off, like Creed touching Canon’s hair when they’re playing on the floor – they’ll just both crack up laughing! Creed is such a good baby. He’s thrilled with one-on-one play time with anybody, but he also is content to just sit in his chair in the kitchen and watch me do the dishes, Dusty (our dog) pant and pace at the back door, and Canon walk in and out to get a “sip” (chip). He just smiles at all of us like he’s watching a three-ring circus. To Drew’s delight he has added “Da-da” to his language repertoire. I can’t believe how fast he’s growing and learning! He still doesn’t crawl, but he’ll rock back and forth on his hands and knees now. And last night when Canon was in the bathtub, Creed stood up by himself (he didn’t pull himself up; I was holding him and realized he could stand there on his own) on the outside of the tub to watch Canon for at least five seconds! I just can’t believe how strong he is. I’m guessing he weighs at least 17 pounds now and his legs are chunky and strong; we call them “linebacker legs”. As sweet as his legs are, my favorite feature of his is his hair. I have never seen such voluminous waves on a baby! This morning I watched him wake up in the middle of my bed while I was getting ready (I brought him to bed with us about 6:00 and he went right back to sleep between us). It was so funny watching him rub his eyes and moan as he tried to wake up, and then roll over onto his stomach to look around. His natural waves were sticking up a good three inches from the top of his head and he flashed a huge grin when he saw me. I just had to laugh and knelt down to kiss his forehead and run my fingers through his wild locks.
Canon has gotten better and better at Project Ask Nicely. There have been several times that he will ask nicely for something without having to be reminded. I wish I had a sound clip of it. It’s all in the tone of voice (the capitals are in falsetto range)… “MommYYY? Mmm… park PEEEAAASSSEE?” The whole thing just drips with sugary sweetness, even his facial expression – I guess that’s the way I modeled it for him. He said that exact phrase on a day recently that was cold and windy. I just ached to have to tell him that we couldn’t go to the park after that perfect request!
Saying “no” is something I am still not very effective at. I don’t naturally say it like Supernanny instructs – with a loud deep voice. My “no-no” sounds more like the trill of a flute than the boom of a drum. I need to work on that… still. If Canon responds with a sly smile, than I know that he thinks whatever I just said or did was a joke. But the times that I think I really nailed the “authoritarian” demeanor in discipline and the spanking or tone of voice or whatever really worked, he responds by crying and then with tears in his eyes and his voice breaking, he walks over to me, grabs my pant leg, looks up and says “Hole jew?” (hold you). I just crumple and we end up burying our faces in each other’s shoulders and sobbing together. I wonder if that’s what God feels like when we come to Him just wanting to be held.
This morning on the way to Rhonda’s house he was babbling in the backseat. I turned the music off just to listen to what he was saying. First he was reading a book that I had handed him about animals. Then he put the book down and talked while he was looking out the window about the “car wash” (one of his favorite things to find while we’re out driving). Then I heard him say “Dear God”… “Mrs. Rhonda” (sounds like “Ah-mees-na”)… “pizza”… “Amen”. He says “Dear God…” a lot, but that’s the first whole prayer I’ve heard him say! It is so neat to know that God heard that prayer, too, and understands all the things he said in between.
Since I’ve written last, we had accepted another contract on the house, only to have them back out the next day… different buyer, same story. At least the second time they didn’t make us wait the whole 10 days. And Drew told me that we had another offer yesterday that he had to just turn down because it was way too low. The new house is empty, clean, and ready for us to move in to, but I keep dragging my feet on actually moving. Partly because our house looks really good just the way it is, and I want potential buyers to see what a nice home it can be. And partly, semi-consciously I think, because I feel like the new house still expects our friends to come back home any minute, to change their mind about Dallas and move back in. I think that’s called transference.
Blessings to all of you,
Chandra